Construction Materials Calculators
Estimate concrete, roofing shingles, tile, mulch, gravel quantities, and electricity costs for your construction and home improvement projects.
Concrete Calculator
Calculate how much concrete you need in cubic yards or bags for slabs, footings, and columns.
BTU Calculator
Calculate the BTU heating or cooling capacity needed for your room based on dimensions.
Roofing Calculator
Estimate roofing materials needed including shingles, underlayment, and ridge caps by area.
Tile Calculator
Calculate the number of tiles needed for floors or walls including waste allowance.
Mulch Calculator
Calculate how many bags or cubic yards of mulch you need for your garden beds.
Gravel Calculator
Calculate the amount of gravel needed in tons or cubic yards for driveways and landscaping.
Electricity Calculator
Calculate electricity costs and energy consumption for appliances and your entire home.
How to Choose the Right Materials Calculator
For foundation and slab work, the Concrete Calculator gives you exact quantities in cubic yards, 60-lb bags, or 80-lb bags with waste factors included. The BTU Calculator is your go-to tool for sizing heating and cooling systems for an entire building based on square footage, insulation, and climate.
Replacing a roof? The Roofing Calculator accounts for pitch angle to give accurate shingle bundle counts and ridge cap estimates. For flooring and wall projects, the Tile Calculator factors in gap spacing, waste allowance, grout, and thinset quantities.
Landscaping materials are covered by the Mulch and Gravel calculators, which compare bulk delivery versus bag purchases and include coverage area estimates. The Electricity Calculator helps estimate operating costs for construction equipment, power tools, or permanent installations.
Understanding Construction Material Estimation
Accurate material estimation is critical in construction. Ordering too little causes costly delays and potential color/batch mismatches with supplemental orders. Ordering too much wastes money and creates disposal challenges. Our calculators include standard waste factors (typically 10-15%) that account for cutting, breakage, and jobsite conditions.
Concrete coverage varies by application: sidewalks typically use 4-inch depth, driveways 5-6 inches, and structural footings 12+ inches. The weight of concrete (approximately 150 lbs per cubic foot) makes delivery logistics an important consideration — one cubic yard weighs about 4,050 pounds.
Roofing materials are measured in "squares" where one square equals 100 square feet of roof area. Standard three-tab shingles require 3 bundles per square, while architectural shingles may require 4-5 bundles per square depending on the manufacturer.
The BTU (British Thermal Unit) is the standard measurement for heating and cooling capacity. One BTU is the energy needed to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. A ton of cooling equals 12,000 BTU per hour, based on the historical energy needed to melt one ton of ice in 24 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I add waste factor to my material estimates?
Yes, always include a waste factor. Standard is 10% for most materials, 15% for roofing and tile (due to cutting), and 5% for bulk materials like gravel. This accounts for cutting waste, breakage during installation, and measurement variations.
How many bags of concrete equal one cubic yard?
One cubic yard requires approximately 45 bags of 80-lb premix or 60 bags of 60-lb premix. For projects requiring more than one cubic yard, ordering ready-mix concrete delivery is usually more economical and results in a stronger, more consistent pour.
What is a roofing square?
A roofing square is a unit of measurement equal to 100 square feet of roof area. This is the standard way roofing materials are sold and estimated. To convert your roof area to squares, divide the total square footage by 100.
How deep should mulch be?
For most landscape beds, 2-4 inches of mulch is ideal. Use 2 inches around shallow-rooted plants, 3 inches for general beds, and 4 inches for weed suppression in unplanted areas. Deeper than 4 inches can suffocate roots and create moisture problems.
How do I estimate electricity costs for an appliance?
Multiply the appliance wattage by daily usage hours to get watt-hours, divide by 1,000 for kilowatt-hours (kWh), then multiply by your electricity rate. For example, a 100W bulb used 8 hours daily at $0.16/kWh costs about $0.13 per day or $3.84 per month.